The Devil and Jimmy Neutron

by Gary D. Snyder

Part 13:

At length the judge roused himself from his reveries and rapped on the table with his firearm. The buzzing among the jury died away as jurors gave him their attention. "As both the prosecution and the defense have rested their cases, this trial is ready to conclude. Has the jury reached a verdict?"

Teach briefly concurred with the other jurors. Although they tried neither Cindy nor Jimmy could hear anything that was said. "We have, your honor," the foreman announced.

"And what is your verdict?"

As Teach stood to deliver the verdict Jimmy and Cindy's clasped hands tightened. "We, the jury, unanimously find that because the plaintiff cannot possibly collect only the soul of the defendant, the contract is unenforceable, the agreement is null and void, and the soul of Cindy Vortex remains her own."

"So ruled," Judge Bean announced, hammering this six-shooter one last time. "Case dismissed!"

Both Cindy and Jimmy jumped to their feet, cheering the decision. Lou, however, was outraged and could barely speak. "You…guys…reek!" he spat at the jury. "Just wait until you get back!" The jurors didn't seem to care. They were engrossed in conversation, sharing stories of their lives long gone, people they had known, events they had experienced. Judge Bean, however, took umbrage at Lou's biting remark.

"That may be," he said, each word like a hammer blow on an anvil, "but until then this is my court. You will comport yourself accordingly or I will hold you in contempt. Now, if you will excuse me, there are some things I wish to consider." He wandered over to the reactor and vanished into the shadows. Sensing that their time was also over, the jurors reluctantly followed and one by one disappeared into the darkness from which they had come.

Cindy and Jimmy hardly noticed their going as they had been reveling in the verdict but were startled out of their preoccupied state by an odd sound. They both turned to see Lou slowly clapping, or rather, slapping his hands together.

"Very good, Neutron," he conceded. "It appears that I underestimated you. Without meaning to brag I have so say that it's not often that I lose. And I win enough that I can stand to lose once in a while. I have just a word of advice for you."

"And what's that going to cost me?" asked Jimmy.

Lou smiled. "Very good, boy genius. But it won't cost you a thing this time. It's just this. Don't get cocky. Remember, you can't always be there to save everyone."

"No," Jimmy admitted. "But I can always be there to help my friends."

Again Lou smiled. "I suppose you will. We'll meet again, Neutron. Count on it." And then he too faded into the shadows.

Cindy breathed a sigh of relief. "It's over."

"Well, almost." Jimmy reached into a drawer and pulled out a small device that looked to Cindy like a small satellite television receiver. "There's just one thing more."

Cindy eyed the device. She didn't recognize it, but something told her not to trust it. "What's that?" she asked.

"It's just my synaptic inhibitor," Jimmy replied. "It'll selectively depolarize some of your neural pathways and erase your short term memory."

"What? But…but why? I won't say anything about this. Honest."

Jimmy took an unusually long time to answer, as though he was having a hard time finding an answer. Finally he spoke. "It's just that…some things I said…and did…well, I don't think you really should have heard them. Maybe someday, but not now. It's…not the right time."

"But how much are you going to erase," Cindy asked, not wanting to forget anything.

"Just the past 3 or 4 days," Jimmy replied. "It won't hurt. Honest. It will be just like –" He caught himself in time; he had about to say that it would be just like that last time but of course Cindy couldn't remember the last time. "- like falling asleep and waking up again."

"But…" Cindy began, but then appeared to resign herself to the decision. "All right. I suppose that if you have to, you have to. But since I won't remember any of this…" She looked up at Jimmy walked slowly over to him.

Although Jimmy had such scientific wonders as hypno-beams, force fields, and synaptic inhibitors at his disposal Cindy had resources just as powerful and much more ancient than any invention that Jimmy possessed. As Cindy drew up to Jimmy her eyes looked deeply into his and Jimmy found himself either unable or unwilling to move or resist, thinking only of the green depths that lay before him. Then, as Cindy's mouth moved closer to his, the last traces of coherent thought evaporated from Jimmy's mind. Just before their lips met, however, Cindy deftly took the synaptic inhibitor from Jimmy' hand and pressed it against his temple, activating the device.

"Hey! What –" Jimmy began, but a short crackle of static from the inhibitor cut his protest short. His face went blank and he swayed slightly as his neural pathways began to depolarize, causing his recent memories to dissolve into random patterns.

"Sorry, Jimmy," said Cindy sadly. "I know what you were trying to do, and I appreciate it. But it was my mistake all this happened. I'm the one who should live with it. Not you." She sighed, looking at Jimmy. "I know you won't remember this, but thank you. For everything."

A few minutes later Jimmy found himself alone in his lab faced with numerous questions. Why did his head feel numb? What was he doing in his lab? What was he doing with his synaptic inhibitor? Why couldn't he remember coming here? After several moments of thought he concluded that the inhibitor had been malfunctioning and he had come here to perform some repairs on it. While working on it the device's malfunction had apparently wiped out some of his memory. That would explain why he was in the lab, why he was holding the inhibitor, why the side of his head felt numb, and why he couldn't remember some things. Two questions, however, remained a mystery to him.

Why were his lips tingling so pleasantly?

And was that jasmine he smelled?

End of Part 13.